I think that 1500 calories may be too high of an intake for someone of your height. Many folks under 5 feet, need to be at around 1000-1200 for weight loss to occur. I would definately drop to about 1200 daily to see if this brings about weight loss for you.

Angboo, have you read the book? I'd recommend it if you haven't. Also suggest you stop by one of the low carb teams, we'll discuss your situation all day with you.

I'd like to add sugar alcohols to BearClaw's list of possible problem foods. That would be sugar-free candy and gum. Atkins allowed them because they don't metabolize quickly and so don't spike the blood sugar. But some people have a problem with them.

Angboo - how much are you exercising? When I was working on losing weight, I was eating between 1200-1500 calories a day, doing cardio 3x a week, and strength training 3x a week. I am 5'2" and went from 130 to 114, which is where I am now. It took about 4 months. Slow and steady. I'd like to lose a few more pounds, but am more focused on just continuing to stay in shape at this point. I feel healthier than I have in years.

Anyway, I am just sharing my experience to show you what it took for a fellow short woman to get down to my goal weight. If you are eating 1500 calories a day, you probably need a very good exercise program on top of it to see good, steady results.

Angboo, first of all, I am making the assumption that you are not an extreme diabetic experiencing late-stage complications and that you are not eating loads of carbs. If you consume lots of carbs and are in ketosis, it is a sign of ketoacidosis which is a dangerous condition that is typically due to an especially messed up pancreas and liver. But if you are trying to eat low in carbs, ketosis is to be expected and is a healthy and normal response to burning fat. Everyone who burns fat makes ketones and the more fat you burn the more you make (generally).

How is your hunger and satisfaction with this eating? At 4'11", you might need to eat less, but as I said before, if you are driving your eating based on hunger and satisfaction, you should still be ok.

There are also certain foods that seem to slow weight loss for a low-carb eater. Nuts, cheese and starchy vegetables like carrots or onions and most fruits might be giving you enough carbs to slow weight loss without actually kicking you out of ketosis. Some people really need to concentrate on non-starchy vegetables cooked in healthy oils and meats at first.

It is not safe to make a generalized statement to our 11 million sparkmembers that: "there is absolutely nothing wrong with being in ketosis " This just isn't the case; for it would greatly depend on other medical conditions.

I know that several members are following this thread, and I think we would all agree that until the original poster, ANGBOO provides more information about her calorie intake amount; it is practically impossible to provide assistance. Hopefully she will return.

Irie_key, you're talking about ketoacidosis which is a whole different animal. It usually occurs in an out of control type I diabetic. People in ketoacidosis are very sick and feel it. People in dietary ketosis generally feel more energetic, less hungry, and overall better.

Angboo, low carb is unlikely to do you any harm, regardless of the naysayers. If that were not true, the Atkins Clinic would have been sued out of existence decades ago. It would help if we could see your food tracker and exercise logs. Just as a possibility, do you work out a lot and eat very little? That won't work very well for losing weight, you have to give your body enough fuel.

I have to disagree with the poster who said there is nothing wrong with Ketosis. For some it can be very dangerous. Ketosis can lead to excessive production of uric acid and hyperuricemia, represented by high uric acid levels. According to the Weight-Control Information Network, hyperuricemia increases your risk for kidney stones and gout -- a painful form of arthritis. High uric acid levels are also associated with high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney disease. Both kidney stones and gout can cause sudden, excruciating pain. A low carb diet can help with certain conditions like insulin resistance and possibly weight loss. Like Becky mentioned it is a balancing act of calories in/calories out.

First, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being in ketosis. All that means is that your body is burning fat instead of sugar as a major energy source. If someone uninformed tells you that ketosis is dangerous the it is basically them admitting that they are ignorant. Everyone who burns fat makes ketones. It is just more ketones and easier to detect if you aren't burning glucose from all those bagels and rice bowls at the same time. I sure hope most dieter's goals include burning fat!

Second, just being in ketosis isn't a guarantee that you will lose weight. The key is that when your blood glucose is steady AND you are not eating much carbs then you should have reduced hunger and increased ability for fat cells to give up their fat stores. The reduced hunger leads to fewer calories eaten and the fat cells being more willing to give up the fat provides an alternative source of fuel instead of food eaten today.

You could be eating too many calories of fat and protein. The key is to eat until you are no longer hungry.....not necessarily a full and filling meal. Manage hunger, not fullness. Never be very hungry, but also never eat until you are full.

You could also be someone who doesn't lose weight easily using the low-carb method. The 'magic' works faster or slower for various people. I guess the questions are...are you satisfied and are you happy eating this way? If you can say, 'yes' to both of those questions, then keep eating low-carb for a while longer and see what happens. It may just take a little more time for you to see an effect.

SMERRIMAN7
Posts:
296
5/14/12 7:54 A

Eliminating carbs so much that you're 'in ketosis' is not a miracle cure for being overweight.

No matter what 'diet' you follow, you need to have a net calorie deficit. Are you tracking/weighing your portions? How many calories are you consuming each day? What is your recommended calorie range to lose weight?

I won't knock the low carb plan - my Mother-In-Law did well with it. But she did not come to the conclusion that all carbs are bad. She severely cut back on processed carbs (sugar, flour, etc.) and uses bread/grain products that have more whole grains & fiber. She still balances out her eating with lean means, veggies and such.

PUFFINTOAD
Posts:
148
5/14/12 1:16 A

My husband did two weeks of no-carb as an experiment and didn't lose a pound. He lost weight before. He lost weight once he quit. He swears he'll never do it again.

I hope you reply to Becky, if find if I remove elements I am supposed to eat daily- my metabolism slows down to a grinding halt too.. Our nutrition is a team of items and sometimes if too many of them are lacking the body will protest and not loss weight.. If items are not there or of a poor quality people can experience lack of weight loss, lack of energy and add to insult suffer colds thinking they eat healthier but are unfortunately are not..

Atkins really was never intended for people with just a few pounds to lose. It's more of a crisis intervention for people who are so overweight that the danger of staying there is greater than the risk of ketosis. If your health isn't at risk from your weight (and unless you're under 4'8", it's not), then even the small danger of liver or kidney damage isn't worth it. Obese people sometimes start losing faster with a low-carb diet, but it evens out by the end of a year compared to people on a regular diet. With so little left to lose, you're looking at a year no matter how you go about it, so you might as well focus on a healthy balanced diet with no risk-- you'll get to goal at about the same speed.

MANDIETERRIER1
Posts:
17,409
5/11/12 3:49 P

All the research I have done on Ketosis. It is not a good state for your body to be in.

I suspected that you would be following Atkins. Search for ketosis in the SP web site, I don't think it is considered a very healthy state for your body. I did try Atkins in the past too, but I found that it is one of those unsustainable diets, i.e. you can't possibly do Atkins for life. You need to follow a program or lifestyle that you actually CAN follow all your life, otherwise even if you lose the weight, you will gain it back, often more than what you lost.

SparkPeople, SparkCoach, SparkPages, SparkPoints, SparkDiet, SparkAmerica, SparkRecipes, DailySpark, and other marks are trademarks of SparkPeople, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this website can be used without the permission of SparkPeople or its authorized affiliates.
SPARKPEOPLE is a registered trademark of SparkPeople, Inc. in the United States, European Union, Canada, and Australia. All rights reserved.

NOTE: Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy last updated on October 25, 2013